Unfinished justice: the 'dirty wars' of Latin America

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Members of the the human rights group Madres de Plaza de Mayo (mothers of the disappeared) carry a banner with pictures of people who disappeared during Argentina's 'Dirty War' in a demonstration to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1976 military coup against Former Argentine President Isabel Peron, in Buenos Aires, March 24, 2006. [An Argentine government report estimates that around 11,000 people either died or disappeared during a crackdown by the military to wipe out suspected dissidents during the dictatorship, although human rights groups say the number is closer to 30,000.] Marcos Brindicci/Reuters

Former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla sits in a courthouse during the first day of his trial where he is accused of participating in 'Operation Condor' in Buenos Aires, March 5, 2013. Operation Condor was a notorious coordinated persecution of leftists and dissidents by Latin America's military rulers in the 1970s. Twenty-five people accused of human rights violations are facing trial in this case, including Videla and former Argentine President Reynaldo Bignone. Videla was jailed for life in 2010 for murder, torture, and kidnapping during the Dirty War. Enrique Marcarian/Reuters

Hebe de Bonafini, the head of Argentina's Mothers of Plaza de Mayo group, whose children disappeared during the Dirty War of the 1970s, leads one of the marches in Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo, in December 1979. Eduardo Di Baia/AP

Army soldiers patrol the Buenos Aires Plaza de Mayo on March 24, 1976 after a military coup led by Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla overthrew President Isabel Peron. During the dictatorship's so-called Dirty War, the armed forces waged a campaign against leftists and other political opponents. The extent of abuses was made public after Argentina returned to democracy in 1983. Eduardo Di Baia/AP

Flowers are left behind on the memorial of disappeared persons at a general cemetery, while hundred of Chileans participated in a protest in remembrance of the military coup in 1973, in Santiago, September 11, 2004. Chileans mark their own September 11 - the 1973 military coup that 31 years later still scars the national soul. A military junta took power, ushering in the 17-year dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet , whose so-called dirty war claimed some 3,000 lives. Reuters

Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet speaks at an informal press conference in Santiago, Chile, 1974. Declassified US documents indicate that Pinochet planned to use violence to annul the referendum that ended his brutal regime in 1988. The formerly secret documents posted by the independent US National Security Archive on Feb. 22, 2013 showed US officials warning Chilean leaders against violence if Pinochet tried to use force to stay in power. AP

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet gets help from his bodyguards, September 11, 2003, in the last ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of 1973 military coup, in Santiago. Carlos Barria/Reuters

Former Uruguayan dictator Gregorio Alvarez shows his handcuffs to the media outside a court in Montevideo, Dec. 19, 2007. Uruguay's last dictator, Gregorio Alvarez, was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday for 37 homicides during the nation's 1973-1985 military regime, when dissidents disappeared in a region-wide crackdown on leftists called 'Operation Condor.' Fito Mendez/AP

Media surround a cordoned area where a shoe and skeletal remains were unearthed on the grounds of an army base in Toledo, 24 miles (40 km) north of Montevideo, Uruguay, Oct. 22, 2011. A forensic team began excavation weeks ago with evidence that persons who vanished in official custody during the dictatorship from 1975 to 1983 are buried at the military garrison. Matilde Campodonico/AP

Former police photographer Nelson Bardesio is escorted by police officers into a courthouse in Montevideo, November 5, 2009. Bardesio was arrested in Argentina on July 25, 2008 and was extradited to Uruguay to face charges of being part of a death squad responsible for the assassination and disappearance of Uruguayan citizens during the Uruguayan 'Dirty War.' Reuters

Paraguayan human rights activist Martin Almada inspects documents at the Paraguay's Defense Ministry in Asuncion, Oct. 14, 2009. Documents from the secret archive of the Paraguayan army during the 1954-1989 dictatorship of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, including some connected to the so-called Operation Condor, a plan implemented by South American military dictatorships during the 1970s to eliminate dissidents, were found by human rights activists in a Paraguay's Defense Ministry's basement. Jorge Saenz/AP

Argentine forensic expert Rogelio Agustin Goiburu (r.) of human rights group 'Verdad, Justicia y Reparacion' (Truth, Justice and Amends) works with others to excavate human remains discovered in the grounds of a police barracks in Asuncion, Argentina in August 2010. The skeletal remains of 11 people were found based on information that they were victims of the government of General Alfredo Stroessner, dictator from 1954 to 1989. Jorge Adorno/Reuters

A relative of a missing person, along with others of the Mutual Support Group, hold a protest march each week to ask 'where are they?' holding posters with photos of 'the disappeared'. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff